Every now and then, a bit of engineering comes by that is both deeply simple, and beautifully complex. This tool for hooking the mooring lines of boats onto a dock cleat is flat-out mesmerizing.

Securing boats by mooring lines onto dock cleats, buoys, or anything else isn't exactly a complicated task: wrap the line around the anchor point, knot everything up, and you're done. Sure, you could hop off the boat onto the dock and accomplish this task easily with your mark-one dexterous hands, but it's hypnotizing to watch this hook flip and fold to tuck the rope around and through in one deceptively-simple swoop.

This tool would be downright extravagant on any of the smaller boats I've puttered about in while communing with my beloved Pacific, but I can imagine it would have greater utility on massive yachts where it's no simple task to lean over the side and grab onto a buoy to slip the ropes through. While I'll continue to do everything manually during my sailing adventures instead of buying a fancy tool, that doesn't make this design any less clever. Nicely done, Robship.